Managing SEO and Indexing Settings
Within the Analytics / SEO section of your website’s settings, you have control over how search engine robots (also known as crawlers) interact with your content. One of the most important options available is the ability to allow or disallow robots from indexing your website.
Global Indexing Settings
The global setting allows you to determine whether your entire website should be indexed by search engines. If indexing is enabled, your site can appear in search engine results pages (SERPs). If disabled, search engines will be instructed not to include any pages from your site in their results.
This setting affects the entire website. Be cautious when disabling indexing globally, as it may prevent all pages—including important ones like your homepage or blog—from appearing in search results.
Fine-Tuned Control: Content & Taxonomies
In addition to the global setting, you can customize indexing preferences for specific types of content, such as posts, pages, categories, or custom taxonomies. To do this:
- Navigate to the Content or Taxonomies tab within the SEO settings.
- Choose the content type you’d like to manage (e.g., Posts, Pages, Categories).
- Adjust indexing settings based on your preferences.
For example:
- Settings for Single Post URLs
- Show Posts in Search Results? Toggle this option from Yes to No if you want to exclude individual posts from being indexed.
This allows for a more strategic SEO approach - ensuring that only high-quality, relevant, or important content appears in search engine results, while preventing low-value or duplicate content from being indexed.
Why This Matters?
Controlling what gets indexed:
- Improves your site’s SEO health.
- Helps avoid duplicate content penalties.
- Ensures only your best content gets visibility in search engines.
- Reduces the chances of sensitive or irrelevant pages being found via Google.